Flathead Catfish Fishing

What do Flathead Catfish look like? How do they act? What do you need to know about them?

What do these fish look like?
Flathead catfish are very different in appearance from other catfish. Their heads are, well, flat. And they have whiskers of sorts growing on their faces. They are not attractive fish at all, but are highly interesting to look at. Their lower jaws are typically larger, longer and deeper than their upper jaws. They can vary in color, but generally maintain a deep green or brown-to-yellow hue.
These creatures can live to be 20 years old, and the normal weight of thin flatheads is about 10 pounds. If they get to be any heavier than that, they develop "pot bellies."

How do they behave?
Flatheads are good parents. They spawn in late spring and take care of their young every step of the way, constructing nests with their tails and mouths, watching their eggs closely to avoid them being the latest meals of larger fish, and even staying with their young once they're hatched for some time.

What else should you know about them?
Flathead catfish like to hide during the day and go hunting for food at night when other fish may be resting. Because of their awkward size, this habit sometimes becomes problematic. They like to hide in hollow logs. Some pot-bellied flatheads manage to wiggle their way into one of these logs only to realize they can't wiggle their way out. Many flatheads end up dying lodged in such logs. They are heavy predators. Their ugly appearance and hefty size make them feared among many other types of fish. They prefer to eat minnows and small fish.